Apparatus for the suspension of glass articles or sheets



Aug- 19, 1941 J. M. D. DE TAILLY 2,252,703

APPARATUS FOR THE SUSPENSION 0F GLASS ARTICLES OR 4SHEETS Filed April 28, 1936 ZSheetsSheet 1 n IT n n H11 im N /f l :I

L2z 16 J/ 19 '17 1n Je 2o 16 'J col/fs Mak/z meoofs DE 72M @M 'MVM mlm/MAA 5 Aug- 19, 1941- J. M. D; DE TAILLY 2,252,703

APPARATUS Eon THE SUSPENSION 0F GLASS ARTICLES '0R SHEETS Filed April 28, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 19, 1941 APPARATUS FR THE SUSPENSION OF GLASS ARTICLES R SHEETS Jacque Marie moet de rainy, Timmons,

France, assignor to The American Securit Company, Washington, D. C., a corporation of Delaware sppucatiossm ze, 193s, serai No. '16,865

France April 30, 1935 claim.

The present invention relates to apparatus for holding the glass sheets or articles in a vertical position during thermic treatments which are capable of causing deformations of said sheets or articles, such as for example their heating at a temperature near the softening point, and

the subsequent rapid cooling of them for the purposeoi tempering.

In the course of these operations it is known to maintain the glass sheets or plates in a vertical position by suspending them by means ci tongs having points which bear against the glass and penetrate slightly into it when the glasslis soft. Said' tongs are constructed in such a manner that the pressure of the points on the glass sheets or plates is adjusted according to the-weight carried by it; for this reason they are, for example, in the shape of an articulated or jointed lozenge; one of the vertexes constitutes the hinge o! the -tong and the opposite vertex is connected to a iixed support, the Jaws ci the tongs being constituted by two iengthened sides of the lozenge.

In the known devices, the fixed support is constituted by a horizontal bar to which the tongs are attached directly, the points oi attachment 'f of the tongs to the glass sheet or plate are situated along the upper edge oi the sheet or plate and the force exerted by each tong is directed vertically, counterbalancing the weight.

When the dimensions oi the glass sheet or plate .are small and when it is light, it is possible to have a convenient suspension by using two tongs only which are placed vertically.

But when the dimensions-of the glass sheet or plate and its weight are of greater value usually attained in practice, the suspension by means of two tongs only is not so good and presents the following inconveniences:

The pressure exerted by each of the tongs becoming too great, the points of the tongs often penetrate so far into the glass as to produce unduly deep and large holes even capable to produce the breakage of the sheet.

The sheet itself is submitted, near the places where the tong-points are pressed, to a too great pull and it is deformed in its proper plane near said places.

Lastly the distance between the two tongs can reach values such that the sheet bends between them and is deformed or bent out of its proper plane i. e. out' oi the vertical plane of suspension. l

In order to avoid such inconveniences a greater number o! tongs has been used, the tongs being attached directly to the horizontal support bar in the same way as when only two tongs were used. But this process is not entirely satisfactory for the following reasons. f

On the one hand, at the beginning oi' the tempering operation, i. e. before the'heating operation, the glass sheet to be suspended is cold and hard, and it is difficult, when suspending it with more than twotongs, to have the weight of the sheet regularly distributed between all the tongs.

On the other hand, even if a convenient distribution oi' the forces' 'has been realized at ordinary temperature, this distribution is modiiled during the thermic treatments because of the differences in the expansion of the supporting means and of the glass sheet.

The result is that the tension of the tongs is not exactly determined,vand some of them may be accidentally overloaded, thereby `occasioning Ellie lisks of breakage and deformation of the glass The present invention hasfor its object to permit to suspend a glass sheet or plate by means of numerous tongs o r simil-ar members, acting along the edge of the glass sheet or plate while avoiding the inconveniences hereinabove mentioned'.

In the apparatus of the present invention, each tong exerts on the glass sheet or plate a deter-` mined pull action, the value of which may be regulated at will at the time of the suspension of the glass sheet or plate. possible to determine the pull of each tong in order that it may be the same for all the tongs.

The present invention relates to a. system of suspension. of the glass' articles and particularly oi the glass sheets, comprising a ilxed support and one or several tongs whichV are connected yleldingly or elastically to such support. The

connection between the support and the tongs is made by independent means which may be ad justed in order to regulate the pull exertedby y each tong.

According to a preferred form of the present invention tongs of the structure described hereinafter are used.. Each of said tongs is at. tached to an endy of an arm pivoting around a xed point rigidly'connected to the tongs supporting means, said arm carrying at its other end an adjustable balance weight in order to regulate the pull exerted by each tong on the glass article. n

Other means to connect the tongs to the tlxed Y support may also be used according to the present invention, such as springs.

`The tongs o! the structure described in the If necessary it is Each of the tongs directly connected to the support may be replaced by a'group of tongs having a single point of attachment with the fixed support, said tongs being f carried by pivoting arms articulated to one another.

the tongs and their points of attachmeatin auch a manner that the action on the glass sheetsat leastfor some tongs if not for the wholeg are directed obliquely instead of being exclusively vertical, these4 oblique actions remaining always in thevertical'plane of suspensin. These forces have horizontal components acting to n stretch the sheet and maintain it dat.

According to the invention the pull of each tong may be independent of the relative movements which can be produced between the glass sheet and the support during the thermic treatments of the glass sheet.

Further the invention has for its yobject to avoid the deformations of the glass sheet by'giv-`4 ing to the forces exerted by the tongs a direction suchthat the sheet is'always maintainedin tension along every desired direction.

The invention willfbe clearly understood and other new characteristics will be mentioned in the course ofthe description of the .figures of the drawings.

Inv the accompanying drawings are represented only by way of example gliiierent forms of devices according to the present invention and used for example to support glass sheets.

Figure 1 is a front lview of one form of the device. f'

Figure 2 is a vertical section on a larger scale of a detail in said device.

- Figure 3 is a horizontal section of the same detail. i

Figures 4, 5, 6 and 'I are front views of other forms of the device according to the invention.

In the device shown in Figure 1, the glass sheet I is suspended on the' one hand by means of two tongs I9 attached directly to the tong bar l as in the known apparatus and, on the other hand by a certain numben 'of tongs l1 connected in a particular manner to ithe tong bar l. Each of said tongs I'I is attached to one end of an arm I8 pivoted at I9 toa lug depending from the'tong bar 4 while the other end of the arm Il carries an adjustable balance weight 2'0. The arm I8 may further be locked to the lug in any positionI as explained hereinafter for particular purpose, by means of nuts 2l shown clearly in Figures 2 and 3. These nuts are used to press the-two parts 22 of the guidemember against'the projections 23 of the arrn'l8 and thus it is possible to maintain the arm in any desired position.

As shown also in the drawings the arm I8 may be mounted on knife-edge 2l in such a manner that it is very sensitive and can only be movedin -the vertical plane of suspension.

It is generally preferred to not use the means for locking the arm I9 to the lug 22; the sheet is iirst suspended to the ordinary tongs I9 while supporting it possibly by hand: the tongs I1 are afterwards adjusted and the position of the balance weight 29 is regulated in such a manner that the tongs .I1 have the desiredtension. .When the suspended sheet is submitted to a thermic treatment and when the supporting members expand ina different manner than the sheet, `the.

arm I8 can work freely and `maintain invariable the action of the tongs I1; the distribution of the strains remains consequently substantially constant. For example,` in the case of four tongs, it will bepossible to have each tong supporting a quarter 4of the weight or the glass sheet.

A further object of the invention is to place Figure 4 shows an example ofI this disposition. The device is similar to that of Figure l, but the glass sheet is suspended by giving to the tongs a determined inclination with respect to the vertical and in such a manner that the sheet is placed under tension. 'I'hen the forces exerted by the tongs on the upper-*edge of the sheet are suchthat it is pulled horizontally. This tension prevents the deformation of the sheet out of its plane and impedes its tendency to warp.

The arrangement of the oblique tongs may be applied not only for` the tongs acting on the upper edge of the sheet but also to tongs such as those represented in 25 (Figure 5) and which are attached on the vertical edges-'of the sheet, in such a lmanner that the tension strength is applied to the whole sheet.

In some cases it is advantageous to combine the tongs having an adjustable balance weight, such as tongs I1 with other complementary tongs such as those represented In Figure 6. In this ngure the tongs I9 shown in Figures 1 .and 4 are replaced by groups oi'tongs 5 articulated at the ends of superposed pivoted arms articulated to one another. each group of tongs l having a single point of attachment to the tong bar. The

two groups represented in Figure dcomprise a pair of tongs 5 articulated at both ends of an arm I or 8 which is pivoted at the end of another arm 9 or III. the otherend-of said arm carrying another tong i.

In each group of tongs 5 the distribution of the forces between these tongs is automatic and is variable with the ratio between the lengths of the different arms and with the position of the tongs relatively to the center of gravity of the glass sheet.

In combinations according to the invention, each fixed tongs I6 may be replaced by a group of tongs 5 supported on pivoted arms, .and there are' generally as shown in the drawings. either two groups of tongs. or a xed tong and a group of tongs or two ilxed tongs.

Other tongs 28 are represented in Figure 6 for the lateral edges of the sheet.

The means to connect with a balance weight the tongs to the fixed support may be us d, ac-

- cording to the present invention, for one tong only or for several tongs as shown in Figure 7, where tongs 5 are attached at both ends of pivoted arms 1 or I 0; the arms 'I may be articulated by4 their axes at both ends of an arm 9 and both -arms 9 and I0 of each group of tongs are suspended to other arms with balance weights 29 and 21.

In all the combinations represented in the drawings all the connections except two are constituted by devices with balance weights. Each of the two connections without balance weights support and even to have all the tongs connected to the support by means of pivoted arms with balance weights.

In the case where the relative displacementsy which may be produced duringthe heat treatment between the sheet and the support are negligible, it is possible, in all the devices previously described, to fasten or to lock, after they have been regulated at ordinary temperature, all or a certain number of the members. In such a manner the apparatus of suspension is not so sensitive to shocks during the heat treatment. The members with balance weights may be provided in this case, with the fastening means comprising nuts 2|, such as represented in Figures 2 and 3;

'the superposed pivoted arms may also be fastened by a similar system, or merely by means of fastening nuts placed at each articulation oi`the pivoted arms to one another.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for suspendingv a glass article subjected to thermic treatments comprising a support, tongs to grip the article which are yieldingly connected to said support, and means to control independently for each of the tongs the force applied to Isaid tongs, said tongs having the capabilityo! movement in the direction of exm ertion of the force thereby to render substantially invariable the magnitude of thei'orce for which the tongs have been adjusted.

2. An apparatus i'or suspending a glass article subjected to thermic treatments comprising a support, an arm carried by said support and rotatable about a horizontal axis, tongs attached support, lan arm carried byV said support and ro-` tatable about a horizontal axis, tongs attached to one end of said arm to grip the article, and an adjustable balance weight carried by the other end of said arm.

5. An apparatus for suspending a glass article subjected to thermic treatments comprising a support, a plurality of arms carried by said support and rotatable about horizontal axes, a plurality of tongs to grip the article, each of said tongs being attached to one end of one oi' said arms, and adjustable balance weights carried by the other end of each ot said arms.

6. An apparatus for suspending a glass article subjected to' thermic treatments comprising a support, an arm carried by said support and rotatable about a horizontal axis, tongs attached to one end of said arm to grip the article, an adjustable balance weight carried by the other end of said arm. and means to fasten or lock said arm at any desired position.

7. An apparatus for suspending a glass article subjected to thermic treatments comprising a support, a plurality of arms carried by said support and rotatable about horizontal axes, several tongs to grip the article, each of said tongs being attached to one end of each of said arms, adjustable balance weights carried by the other end of each of said arms, and means to fasten or lock each arm at any desired position.

8. An apparatus for suspending a glass article subjected to thermic treatments comprising a support, tongs to grip the article, at least one of said tongs directly connected to said support, at least one arrncarried by said support and rotatable about a horizontal axis. another of said tongs being attached to one end o1 said arm, and

an adjustable balance weight carried by the other end of said arm. i

9. In an apparatus for suspending a glass arof the second-mentioned pivoting arm, and a balance weight carried by the other end of said last arm.

10. In an apparatus for suspending a glass ar. ticle subjected to thermic treatments comprising a support, at least one pivoting arm carried by said support, at least another pivoting arm carried by the first-mentioned pivoting arm, tongs articulated at the ends of said pivoting arms, at least another pivoting arm carried by the support, tongs articulated at the end ot this lastmentioned pivoting arm, and a balance weight carried by the other end of said last arm.

11. In an apparatus for suspending a glass article subjected to thermic treatments comprising a iixed support. at least one pair of tongsdirectly connected to said ixed support, at least one pivoting arm carried by the support, tongs articulated at the ends of said pivoting arm, at least another pivoting arm `carried by the support, tongs articulatedat the end o! the second-mentioned pivoting arm, and a balance weight carried by the other end of said last arm.

12. In an apparatus tor suspending a glass ar.. ticle subjected to thermic treatment comprising a fixed support, at least one pair of tongs directly connected to said fixed support, at least one pivoting arm carried by said support, at least another pivoting arm carried by the mst-mentioned pivotingarm, tongs articulated at the ends of said pivoting arms, at least another pivoting arm carried by the support, a pair of tongs articulated atthe end oi.' this last mentioned pivoting arm, and a balance weight carried by the other end of said last arm.

13. In an apparatus for suspending a glass article in position for thermic treatments, a fixed support, a pivoted arm connected to the support, a balance weight carried by said arm on one side of its pivot, an arm pivotally suspended from said nrst arm at the opposite side of the pivot thereof, and a group o! tongs articulated at the ends otlast said arm.

14. In an apparatus for suspending a glass article in position for vthermic treatments, a ilxed support. a pivoted arm connected to the support, a balance weight carried by said arm on one side of its pivot, an arm pivotally suspended from said first arm at the opposite side or the pivot thereof, a group of tongs articulated at the ends of last said arm, and tongs directly connected tol said fixed support.

15. An apparatus for suspending a glass article subjected to thermic treatments comprising 

